Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Monthly Message

Here is the message from Our Lady for February:

"Dear children! In this Lenten time of grace, I call you to open your hearts to the gifts that God desires to give you. Do not be closed, but with prayer and renunciation say ‘yes’ to God and He will give to you in abundance. As in springtime the earth opens to the seed and yields a hundredfold, so also your heavenly Father will give to you in abundance. I am with you and love you, little children, with a tender love. Thank you for having responded to my call."

Friday, February 17, 2006

Prayers for the Philippines

1,500 are missing in a landslide on Leyte island. Please offer up your prayers to those who are missing and their families.

Hanging Rosaries?

From Spirit Daily.com:

Can we sanctify an area? We can. And must. All of us have an obligation to spread the Gospel message. Obviously, not everyone can be a preacher. But we can be agents of God in many ways.
One of them is to spread holy objects and to put them on open display.
At a time when secular society tries to force us to hide the light under a basket, we must do the opposite -- showing them that we are out there in great numbers (
Mark 4:21).
Displaying holy objects -- especially ones that have been blessed -- is a way of cutting through the spiritual grit of a region and affording ourselves protection. Holy objects rub off and anoint what they touch.
We bring this up because after recent articles about the pros and cons of St. Joseph statues (some bury them to facilitate the sale of homes), there were those who not only raised objection to that unusual practice (with which we were not very familiar), but even to such things as hanging rosary beads from rear-view mirrors in automobiles.
Is that an inappropriate use of a holy item?
We decided to let you have the say on it.
"My husband and I both have rosaries hanging in each of our vehicles, and I think it is a nice practice for two reasons," opined Jennifer Reese. "The first reason, is that I find it pleasant during my hour-long commute to have it hanging there right in front of me; it has inspired me to pray many times, and has given me comfort when driving through storms. Also, perhaps it can motivate a lapsed-Catholic to begin to look deeper into their own faith when they are driving or walking by a car that has one displayed in this manner. Maybe there are people who, when seeing the rosary, say to themselves, 'You know what? I think this Sunday I am going to go to Mass...'"
"I started hanging a rosary when I spotted a Playboy bunny decal on someone else’s rear-view mirror some fifteen-plus years ago and was offended," writes Maureen Wellik of Middletown, Delaware. "So I hung a rosary in compensation to God, kind of like when Christian holidays were created to replace pagan holidays. Practically speaking, having a rosary on the rear-view mirror is a great reminder and is helpful especially when I am driving on a highway and my rosary is buried in my pocket under my seatbelt: I can just grab the one on the mirror. Actually I have a physiological reaction when I see a rosary on someone’s rearview mirror. A feeling of peace comes over me. I figure God is important to them, Mary is important to them, the driver prays, is a counter-cultural person who is not concerned about what folks think, and if I am in a jam and need help, that’s who I can go to."
How far can we go with such things?
"Now onto burying medals," says Elaine Dallaire of Massachusetts. "There is some merit to this practice. I have been told by several priests and religious that in order to protect your property and house take one of each Miraculous, St. Michael the Archangel, and St. Benedict, have them blessed, and tie the three together and do the same with others so you have four sets of three medals.
"Take and bury one set on the four corners of your property and you can do the same in the inside of your house or apartment. Then for an added hedge of protection take exorcised salt and sprinkle it along the perimeter edges of you property. For the inside of your house you can sprinkle a few grains of salt in the four corners also. This does work. I know personally of a small town where a porn shop owner was in the process of purchasing the property to put up a shop. A priest who I know went out to the property, blessed it, and did the above.
"Well, the sale fell through and a family restaurant -- a successful one at that -- was built there instead. I have often exhorted people to do this especially as times are getting darker. It is important to protect our families and homes from spiritual warfare!"
We don't know about such formulas, but we do know that spreading blessed salt and Holy Water is powerful in protecting an area. Might we also counter the current trends by displaying Christian bumper stickers or that fish symbol with the Name of Jesus in it (as opposed to the one that blasphemously inserts the name Darwin)?
Holy objects are indeed useful, as long as they are not simple decorations and we are careful not to stray into superstition.
What about burying St. Joseph statues, with which many take issue?
"In reading both articles about the efficacy of the mediation of St. Joseph, the Wonder Worker, in assisting home sellers to sell their homes, I see one thread running through the story," noted a reader named Dr. Bola Fashoro. "The belief that the novena and Litany to St. Joseph must be prayed. Miracles happen when there is faith and it is in the Divine Will. In this case, there is a strong belief that St. Joseph, the Head of the Holy Family and Guardian of the Redeemer, Christ Jesus , the dispenser of the treasures of His Most Sacred Heart, who always has the attention of his foster Son, will assist in the sale of the home. The burial of the statue authenticates that the belief is strong. St Joseph, in Heaven understanding our human frailties in burying the statue to achieve a particular aim, but knowing the faith displayed, especially through the novena and litany prayers, intercedes for us."
"My assistant principal (who grew up Catholic, but converted to the Jewish faith, and is a widow) was selling her home in Vermont, and helping out her children with the money," wrote Mary Devine, who lives in Montville, Connecticut. "She had to redo the house first. I suggested asking St. Joseph, and she was not interested. A couple of months later, she was getting desperate and asked me to get her a statue. I rushed down in the middle of a snow storm and bought her one.
"She buried it, and about three weeks later she told me that the house was sold, she received cash for it, and did not have to redo it at all. She told me that the closing was supposed to be a certain date, but it was postponed until the week later. It took place on the feast day of St. Joseph."
For your discernment!

Thursday, February 02, 2006

Latest Message


Here is the latest message from Our Lady:


Message of January 25, 2006 "Dear children! Also today I call you to be carriers of the Gospel in your families. Do not forget, little children, to read Sacred Scripture. Put it in a visible place and witness with your life that you believe and live the Word of God. I am close to you with my love and intercede before my Son for each of you. Thank you for having responded to my call." 01/2006

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